Improvement in tin cans



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIGE,

JOHN LF. MERRILL, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO EIMS-ELF AND ALEXANDER STEWART, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TIN CANS.

` Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent' No. 112,477, dated `Marcil 7, 1871.

I, JOHN F. MERRILL, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio, have invented new and useful Improvements inFruit-Gans, of which the following is a specification:

Natzwe'and Objects of the Intention.

This invention relates .to that class of fruitcans which are pro vided with external sealingtroughs; and my improvements consist in providing they upper portion of the body of the can with aswell or enlargement, which prevents the-cans sticking` to one another` when they are nested 7 together for the purpose of packing or` transportation.

General Description with Reference to the Drawx mg. t

i Figure lis a perspective view of a fruit-I can embdyinmg my improvements. Fig. 2 is a partially-sectionized side elevation of .the same. Fig.r3 is af representationof two cans nested together, the ou'ter onebein g shown in section andthe inner one in elevation. Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional View of the top part of the can with cap applied 5 and Fig. 5 rep-v resents a modification of my can with lid` applied, and the sealing-wax shown in the trough. In packing cans,either for the purpose of storage or transportation, it is customary to nest them one within another, so as to economize `space,and it frequently happens that cans packed in this manner become so tightly stuck together that the troughs are bent, and the cans themselves injured in attempting to separate them.

This difficulty I eectually overcome by the following expedient: I provide the upper part of the can with a swell or enlargement, a, which is of such increased diameter, in comparison to the body proper, A', as to permit ofV said swell resting upon the neck of the can immediately below it whenA two or more are nested together. Y

The manner in whichthese cans are nested together will be understood by referring to4 Fig. 3, from which it will be seen that the inner can A is supported upon the .ut'erone' F, by means of the swell t of the former resting upon the neck f of the latter, the bodies of the cans being nowhere gin actual contact with one another. y Y

Gans constructed and packed as above described are capable of being separated in a 

